The Chance Vought A-7 Corsair II was a carrier based single-seat tactical fighter, it was introduced to replace the US Navy's aging A-4 Skyhawks and was based of the existent Chance Vought F-8 Crusader jet fighter with a broader fuselage and larger stronger wings, it was powered by a Rolls-Royce Spey turbofan built under license by Alison. The Chance Vought A-7 Corsair II entered service with the United States Navy in 1966 during the Vietnam conflict and was later used by the USAF and the Air National Guard to replace their old ex-navy A-1 Skyraiders, it remained in service with the US Navy until May 1991 when they were replaced by the F/A-18 Hornet. The USAF operated the Vought A-7 Corsair II until replacing them with F-16 Fighting Falcons and the Fairchild A-10 Thunderbolt II. The Air National Guard's Vought A-7 Corsair II's were retried from service in 1993. It is of note that the US sold many of it's surplus A-7 Corsair's to Greece, Thailand and Portugal, many remain in service with these countries today. Chance Vought A-7 Corsair II Specifications: Span: 11.81 m (38 ft 9 in) Length: 14.06 m (46ft 1.5 in) Height 4.90 m (16ft 0.75 in) Weight empty: 8676 kg (19,127 lb) Maximum Take-off Weight: 19,051 kg (42,000 lb) Engine: Single 15,000lbs thrust Alison TF-41-A (license built Rolls-Royce Spey) turbofan engine Maximum Speed: 635kt (691 mph) Maximum Range: 3,669 km (2,280 miles)
Armament: Single M-61A1 20mm six barrel 1018 round gatling gun Up to 6804 kg (15,000 Ibs) of weapon stores on eight external under-wing hard-points
|
